Mum says thanks to neonatal unit as baby Logan spends New Year at home after spending his first in intensive care

Posted Friday, January 3, 2020 2:47 PM

Mum says thanks to neonatal unit as baby Logan spends New Year at home after spending his first in intensive care

New Year for most people usually marks new beginnings and setting New Year’s resolutions, but for new Mum, Kerry Bryant from Forest Town, Mansfield, it was a bit of a whirlwind after she gave birth prematurely to her son at just 30 weeks on 1 January 2019.

This time last year, Kerry’s Son, Logan Bryant came into the world at 7.34am on 1 January 2019, weighing just 3lb 11oz after she had to have an emergency caesarean due to suffering from preeclampsia at 29 weeks.

A year on and Logan is thriving after celebrating his first birthday on New Year’s Day at home with close family and friends. But this time last year was a very different story for Mum, Kerry and Dad, Ben, as Kerry explains: “It all happened so quickly, I was being monitored for preeclampsia and then I got told they needed to deliver the baby. We were still decorating the nursery, which was being re-boarded and we had very little ready for him, as we thought that we had more than a month to go until he was born.

“Logan is my first born and I hadn’t even been to any antenatal classes at this point, so I was very worried and apprehensive about what was happening. The neonatal unit staff and midwives were brilliant though and really helped us learn what to do as new parents and how to handle a baby who had been born so early and was so tiny, I’m not sure we would have been so prepared without them.

“We spent four weeks in the hospital’s neonatal unit, bringing Logan home just before he would have reached full term once he had learnt to feed on demand. I have nothing but positive things to say about the staff who looked after both us and Logan, they made it a really positive experience after what was not the ideal birth we all had in mind. Thank you to everyone who looked after us and Logan.” 

Pre-eclampsia is a pregnancy complication when the mother experiences high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system, most often the liver and kidneys. Often when it becomes too dangerous for the pregnancy to continue, clinical decisions have to be made to balance both the baby and the mother’s health.                                                                                                                                                                                          

Describing this year compared to last year Kerry added: “It has been a very different experience, compared to all of the worry we had this time last year. Having Logan home to spend his first Christmas and then birthday with us has been brilliant. He’s been so spoilt, we aren’t sure where we are going to put all of his new toys and presents! Logan is teething now, so that does come with its own challenges, but we wouldn’t have it any other way, we are so happy to have him home after his difficult entry into the world.”

Matron for neonates, children and young people at King’s Mill Hospital, Rachel Barker said: “So many babies on the Neonatal Unit spend the festive period, and their first New Year with us, so we try to make as special as possible for them and their families. We are so pleased that Logan was able to enjoy his first New Year and of course his birthday at home with his family. We know that there are families on the unit at the moment whose babies have spent their first Christmas and New Year here, but we hope that Logan’s story can reassure them and give them hope for the future.” 

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